AN EXEMPLAR INTERDISCIPLINARY INSTITUTE

Quadram Institute

Norwich, UK

Key Facts

Quick facts

The Quadram Institute will see clinicians and researchers working side by side to specialise in food and health research

MEP design optimises the working environment while reducing energy consumption in laboratory spaces

Spaces feature large glazed openings designed to promote connectivity between research and patient care

The Quadram Institute will be set in 230hectares of parkland

Introduction

The Quadram Institute in Norwich will see the coming together of the Institute for Food Research, the University of East Anglia and departments from the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital into a single facility. This interdisciplinary institute will focus on understanding how food and gut microbiota are linked to promotion of health and prevention of disease.

Challenge

The Institute includes Containment Level 2 and Containment Level 3 laboratories as well as a Clinical Trials facility and one of Europe’s largest Endoscopy departments, enabling research and diagnostics to be performed under the same roof. The brief for the BuroHappold Engineering team was to create a building that would enable this collaboration between different scientific activities.

Energy reduction is key to the design, so our team needed to give careful consideration to the level of internal environmental control and analysis, with developing opportunities to safely reduce the traditionally applied laboratory air change rates an important element. We also needed to incorporate solutions that would reduce energy consumption across the whole development, taking into consideration use of natural light and ventilation.

Solution

To counter the high energy levels associated with laboratories, we used wind tunnel testing to determine safe fume efflux parameters while minimising the fan energy consumed. Daylight-linked lighting systems throughout the building have been designed to sit in aesthetic harmony with the acoustic baffles throughout the building, creating areas that are optimised for the users as well as the technical functions. Our engineers also incorporated a 400kW reversible ground source heat pump system to ensure that carbon emissions are minimised further.

To create an exemplar environment in the write-up spaces, we carried out complex parametric facade shading studies and detailed natural ventilation analysis, alongside incorporating strategies for low energy consumption. Our team refined the office floor layouts to take best advantage of a cross-flow ventilation strategy, and the use of under floor MEP distribution has maximised the floor to ceiling heights in the space. This approach has also increased daylight penetration and made the best of the thermal mass of the structure to enhance the environmental conditions. During winter, excess heat from densely occupied areas such as meeting rooms will be captured and redistributed to the open plan office floor areas, ensuring that all rooms remain at a comfortable temperature regardless of whether they are occupied, but still avoiding expending energy unnecessarily.

Further contributing to the quality of the space, our MEP engineers designed the laboratories to include exposed high-level services, allowing the use of fabric ductwork for optimal air distribution and easy maintenance and adaptability, as well as creating a greater sense of space.

Value

Bringing a number of disparate specialities together under one roof, the Quadram Institute will allow scientists to work collaboratively to combat diseases that affect us from when we are born through to old age. The building will also see innovative research into food science and safety, with the aim of reducing the impact on health services. BuroHappold’s work has contributed to the creation of spaces that encourage interaction across disciplines, offer exceptional laboratory environments and reduce emissions.

Project details

Client: Institute of Food Research, University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

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About us

BuroHappold Engineering is an international, integrated engineering consultancy operating in 23 locations worldwide, with over 50 partners and over 1800 employees including some of the world’s leading consulting engineers. For 40 years we’ve been building our reputation for delivering creative, value led building and city solutions for an ever changing world.